Online component shopping for a landscape lighting system

16 Oct Online component shopping for a landscape lighting system

By Mike Gambino

For Landscape Lighting design and installation professionals, losing sales or profit from property owners doing their own online shopping has been a concern for a long time. Recently I have read other blogs attempting to deal with this practice so obviously it is currently a viable issue with their business. People have always been price conscious, and now that comparing pricing literally all over the world takes only as long as it does for someone to type the model number and hit search, it has made it much easier for people to let their fingers — and their computers — do the walking.

Being in  the custom install world one of the benefits of designing and having our own proprietary product line has combated against this by dealing in products that are very exclusive in nature. We pride ourselves with having items that can’’t be found or price shopped anywhere else. But the fact for others is, even with manufacturer assurances of policing Internet sales and crackdowns on non-authorized dealers, there are still VERY few products that a determined consumer couldn’t locate on the Net. Now, might they get burned in the process? Might they buy something that turns out to be warehouse-vaporware and never arrives at their door? Or purchase something that turns out to be a B-stock or used-and-returned item? Maybe. But then they can let Visa or AmEx slug it out with the retailer. People are used to shopping and buying online now. Not only used to it, they are very comfortable with it and, many people actually prefer it to the flesh-and-blood encounter with a real person. And the threat about the big, scary Internet and getting ripped off online is really not that intimidating anymore.

The custom design and installation world’s best defense should be to deal primarily in items that are not very consumer, DIY, installation-friendly. It might be helpful for such manufacturers to put a logo on their product boxes that says “Installer Dependent” letting the customer know – well, if they ever actually saw the box that is – that the install part of this is an important part of the equation. Landscape lighting is design  – and – labor intensive that this should serve as its own DIY deterrent however apparently this does not. Even if you DID want to dig trenches all over your yard and then backfill and level them, run conduit and cable and you DID want to climb up into trees  and strategically place transformers and controls and you DID want to terminate and connect all the wiring, well you probably will not nearly get the same results as hiring a pro to do all of that for you and specify, supply, install and warranty the system. This is a way that manufacturers could protected not only their installers, but themselves as well. If you have a bunch of half-assed, non-working systems out there, it’s going to be damaging to your reputation. And when it comes to custom landscape lighting, it requires so many years of experience that it should be ensconced in the custom install by professionals only safety zone. Sadly its not as most products, established brands and generics alike, are available to anyone.

With larger projects – where you are selling complete systems that require many components to work cohesively together – this Amazon-shopping should not really be a problem. Could someone try to take your proposal and piecemeal shop it all over the Internet to save a few bucks? Sure. In fact it actually happens. “You want to buy this system from a bunch of vendors and then just have a bunch of random boxes show up? Because if that is the case, I have to tell you that our company won’t be interested in handling your project or assisting you with the installation. Unlike others who waste their time trying to tell you how you can ultimately save money by using them, or how the value that they add far outweighs their fee, we will tell you that you are not a client that we care to work with. Usually property owners figure out very quickly that the designer/installer is every bit as crucial a component to the system’s success as any transformer, controller, or fixture.

But on smaller jobs, this is a real issue. On those single day, quick-in-and-out jobs — say, a 15-20 fixture installation. The stuff that helps “grease” those financial wheels in between the large projects, and where you don’t really have a chance to develop that strong client-installer bond over multiple interactions. And as budgets – continue to move downstream, what can we do to prevent someone from calling us out to their property to get a full hands-on demo and education on the product and technology that best serves their needs without also arming them to just go back to their computer and then click their way to the lowest price?

There are some who will say “You go buy whatever you want elsewhere and I’ll put it in for you” and take that approach and you probably will never see them again after the check clears. But for those of us who are full service, stand behind our systems- design, build and maintain them and plan on developing an ongoing relationship with our clients. Understand one thing that is that the service professional is the product and a crucial component in the mix one that cannot effectively be price shopped anywhere even on the internet.

 This landscape lighting blog is published by Mike Gambino of Gambino landscape lighting inc. all rights reserved. Mike is a professional landscape lighting system designer/ builder and has been designing, installing and maintaining landscape lighting systems for more than 20 years. Mike resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 2 sons. To visit his website go to www.Gambinolighting.com . To inquire about hiring Mike please click here .

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